I'm an amateur astronomer, based in NE England, and will be watching for Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) at every opportunity during the coming months.

It's still too dim to pick up visually, down in the brightening sky above the eastern horizon before sunrise.The Moon has also been quite close to it, the last few days.

Currently at about 12th magnitude, with a surface brightness beyond mag 13, due to it's diffuse nature - It would need a pristine dark sky, and a large telescope to even stand a hope of seeing it visually.Astrophotographers may be able to image it, but I'm a sketcher, not an astrophotographer, and rely on visual observation.

I'm personally not expecting to see much of it until early/mid October, when it will appear very close to Mars in the sky, just in 'front' of the head/neck of Leo, and expected to be around Magnitude 9.5, surface brightness a little below 10th magnitude. (Surface brightness is a far better measure of how visible an object is)

Any amateurs/beginners who want to know exactly where it is....(Knowing it's EXACT location will be a big help in spotting it)I'd advise using a programme such as 'Stellarium' (free download), and make sure you have up-to-date comet data.

Quoting: Karlos

Great input, many thanks!

Do keep in touch as like yourself I to am expecting the real show to start after the Mars fly by on the 1st, or thereabouts!

I'm also particularly interested in the amount of UFO activity at this time too as there seems to be a general increase in sighting especially around the UK!